The CPU behemoth has cancelled several 45nm products because it will have much more advanced 32nm products available this year. AMD, meanwhile, has only been selling 45nm chips since November.

Clarkdale is the desktop version of Westmere, built using two 32nm logic cores and a 45nm graphics core using Intel's "Multi-Chip Packaging". Targeted at the mainstream value market, it is capable of running four threads at once with Intel's newest generation of Hyper-Threading. A server variant of Clarkdale is also to be introduced later in Q1 of 2010.

Arrandale is the mobile version of Clarkdale and will also be available with integrated-on-package graphics. It will allow switchable graphics within Windows 7 and Windows Vista, enabling the use of a higher performance GPU through PCIe when plugged in. Both Clarkdale and Arrandale will use 5 series chipsets exclusively with DDR3.

This is the first 32nm silicon out of Intel's Fab D1D Research and Development center in Hillsboro, Oregon. We were told that it is fully functional and running Windows 7. Intel also claims that its cycle times are greatly improved over its P1266 45nm process, and expects a faster ramp.

Power consumption numbers are visible for both Clarkdale and Arrandale, but these are just preliminary. Final production silicon will probably be much lower, but this gives a good indication of Intel's prowess.

We’d like to give a special thanks to Stephen Smith, Vice President and Director of Business Operations of Intel's Digital Enterprise Group, for making these pictures possible.

Comments

Threshold

Username

Password

remember me

This article is over a month old, voting and posting comments is disabled